B.D.F. air crew found proverbial needle in haystack
Three divers who endured two and a half days bobbing in the deep blue sea are gradually returning to health. In fact, fifty year old John Bain of Wisconsin was discharged from the Universal Health Services hospital today and was last seen heading south in a rental vehicle. Nancy Masters of Oregon and Yutaka Maeda, a Japanese visitor, remain hospitalised but are expected to be discharged in the near future. Today I spoke with members of the Belize Defence Force Air Wing who, in fading light on Monday evening spotted the proverbial needle in a haystack.
Capt. Raymond Shepherd, 2nd in Command, BDF Air Wing
?We saw someone waving, flips and hands, the flippers, and that was what brought our attention to them.?
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
That was the dramatic finale of an intensive two-day search and rescue effort in the waters off southern Belize for four SCUBA divers missing since Saturday.
Up to that point, 2nd Lt. Christopher Neal had logged two full days of flight time to find the two men and two women lost in a seemingly endless sea.
2nd Lt. Christopher Neal, Pilot, BDF Air Wing
?I had a great sense of accomplishment because there was like a whole; I spent like eighteen hours flying out there. It was, when we first saw that first body, the first personnel, it was like a sense of relief because we actually had done something right to locate that personnel.?
Within hours of being pulled from the sea, survivors Nancy Masters, John Bain, and Yutaka Maeda told their rescuers details of the horrific ordeal.
2nd Lt. Christopher Neal
?They just told me that the nights were the hardest, being out there and I can understand how it is because I?m someone from Dangriga, grew up in Dangriga and go often to the cayes and stuff, so I know how the seas can be. And when she said that the nights were the hardest I could understand what she meant, just thinking about being out there by yourself and having those huge swells just knocking you around, just batting you around. I just couldn?t stand to stay there you know long enough to just listen to her, because it was just too, I know what to say, they are very strong that all.?
Janelle Chanona
?You got emotional listening to the story??
2nd Lt. Christopher Neal
?Yeah, a bit… a bit.?
Major Ganney Dortch, Commanding Officer, BDF Air Wing
?They were saying, okay they would have expected loads of helicopters looking for them, loads of planes looking for them, there was no sight. They also mentioned to me that at times ships would come very near to them, they would be shouting out to the top of their voice trying to get the captain?s attention, unfortunately to no joy. And just as they were about to give up, there was this B.D.F. Defender.?
Capt. Raymond Shepherd
?We went out to do a four-hour mission and we located them approximately two and three quarter hours into that mission. Therefore, we had an hour and fifteen minutes remaining.?
Janelle Chanona
?And you used that gas to help pinpoint their position??
Captain Raymond Shepherd
?That?s right, to lead the surface vessels into the location because the nearest surface was approximately an hour away. Had we left before they arrived, we wouldn?t have recovered the bodies.?
According to the airmen, after the first diver was sighted, the B.D.F. defender ascended to one thousand feet and within minutes the crew had spotted the other three persons located approximately one mile apart from each other. G.P.S. coordinates of their position were relayed to Northeast Caye on Glovers Reef. The first to arrive was a ship bound for Honduras.
Captain Raymond Shepherd
?I think the vessel name was ?Edith L? heading towards Puerto Cortez. We saw them about ten miles off and we requested their assistance in guiding the smaller vessels into the location because after a while had the smaller vessels not made it on time, we would have to leave and then ?Chiquita Banana? would be able to give them some sort of direction.?
This morning, Commanding Officer of the Belize Defence Force Air Wing told News Five the incident has highlighted the needs of the unit.
Maj. Ganney Dortch
?Looking at getting better search and rescue gear, in terms of a dinghy, which is the life raft, and also trying to better equip the vessel that help in the rescue operations in terms of equipping them with radios et cetera, that?s one of our major concerns here today.?
?The message to the public is to basically take heed to the Met Officer as not only do they make life difficult for us, they make life difficult for innocent civilians that want to go out there to have fun and to enjoy a nice evening. And when tragedy strikes like this, it does not only show the disrespect for authorities, but the tourism industry is affected in that they will maybe not come back to Belize.?
The Belize Defence Force has praised the officers involved in the rescue mission for acting above and beyond the call of duty…but the airmen say that?s they were just doing their job.
Raymond Shepherd
?The reason why we do search and rescue mission is so that others may be alive; to save lives, so that others may live.?
The officers of the Belize Defence Force Air Wing attribute much of the success of the rescue operation to the tremendous civilian support by Eddie Usher of Southwest Caye on Glover’s Reef and Brian Young of Placencia Village. The four scuba divers were near Gladden Spit on Saturday when their boat experienced engine problems. They attempted to swim to Silk Caye against a strong breeze but never made it. The diver who perished, twenty-eight year old Abigail Brinkman, was the only one not wearing a wet suit and was pronounced dead shortly after being pulled from the sea on Monday night. Her family arrived in Belize today to take her back to Indiana later this week.
